Giuliani insists his terrible TV appearances aren't because he's drunk

Rudy Giuliani has made quite a mess in his mere three weeks as Trump’s lawyer. And as his media appearances get worse and worse, he is publicly denying that drunkenness is the reason.

Politico reports that other Trump lawyers and advisers “have been asking one another about the lawyer’s drinking and other erratic behavior” after watching him stumble and fumble through a series of TV interviews.

Giuliani rejected the theory, insisting he only drinks in the evening.

“I’m not drinking for lunch,” he told Politico. “I may have a drink for dinner. I like to drink with cigars.”

Even having to make such a denial is an embarrassment. And it’s just the latest way Giuliani has made a spectacle of himself since joining Trump’s legal team.

He admitted that Trump funneled money to his lawyer and hush money man Michael Cohen to pay off porn star Stormy Daniels. Then he explicitly linked the payoff to the 2016 election.

He followed that up by noting that there are likely other illicit payoffs in Trump’s past.

Yet how did Giuliani assess his performance after those mistakes? He said he was doing “pretty good.” And he issued a strange and rambling statement that tried to absolve Trump of his involvement in the payoff.

Giuliani was taken off the media circuit for 48 hours after that. But he was soon back on camera, making a fool of himself and somehow making Trump look sillier than usual.

Even if he isn’t day-drinking, he has even worse problems.

When he joined the Trump team, Giuliani said his role was to “negotiate an end” to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

But all he has done, from a practical standpoint, is highlight the mediocrity of the people Trump surrounds himself with.

Even those tasked with being attack dogs on Trump’s behalf turn out to be woefully inept jokes who can’t make a simple point without shooting themselves in the foot.

Rudy Giuliani professes to be sober while making a fool of himself on television to defend Trump. But if so, that makes him and Trump look worse, not better. He isn’t helping — and after just three weeks, Trump is already getting sick of it.